**Siesta Celebration is January 20-21, 2012**
Hey, Sweet Things!
Finally, August 1st! I’m always so glad to see it come so that it can GO. But it’s not just the end of a long, hot summer for everybody. It’s also the last couple of weeks of summer vacation. Those of you with school-age children will soon find yourself back in carpool lines and going over spelling words. In just a couple of weeks, Jackson will start kindergarten and will catch our whole family by surprise even though we’ve known it was coming for five and a half years. We just cannot fathom it. We have a picture framed in our bedroom that I see everyday with Keith and I cuddling him between us when he was just a few hours old, and we brand-spanking-new grandparents are kissing over his head. Something was reborn in that couple of 25+ years that day. Our interests have always tended to be different and were getting increasingly so, but, that cold February afternoon in Dallas, Texas, we somersaulted right back into one another and tumbled into a well of love with a seven pound man-child.
Keith and I got to have Jackson and Annabeth Friday night while Curtis and Amanda went to dinner and a movie. They’d been gone for 10 days to Wyoming and, even though we’d seen them at a Mexican food restaurant the day they got home, we’d not had them to ourselves yet. We made a date right away. They delight us to no end and cause us to laugh until our sides split. Don’t get the idea there’s no work involved but investments don’t get better than this one. We have real, live conversation over dinner these days and, when you’re grandparents, not a single word gets wasted on you. All of it’s solid gold. Jackson told us at the dinner table Friday night while stuffing a piece of warm French bread into his mouth that butter is his “temptutation.” And, sure enough, it was dripping off of his chin and looked so good that we all shared that same temptutation and gave right on in to it.
We have an empty room in our house right now because we wanted Melissa and Colin to have her bedroom furniture and it’s turned into the perfect playroom. Nothing like an empty room to fire up the imagination. Jackson and I built an obstacle course Friday night that ended with a dizzying spin in my swiveling desk chair. It was so much fun. Amanda and Curtis walked through the door at 10:15 and we were all four still up in the kitchen, Paw Paw popping popcorn on the stove. It’s so good to have the Jones’s home. Melissa and Colin have been out of town for a week, too, and I can hardly wait to get my hands on them. They’re flying home from California this very moment. Most of the time they were out of cell phone range so we’ll have plenty to catch up on.
On to the business at hand! Our year is flying by! It’s time to check in with our fifteenth verses for our Siesta Scripture Memory Team. For some reason I’ve seen the word “gentleness” turn up a number of times in my Scripture reading lately so I’ve decided to choose a memory verse that makes especially important use of it. Here goes:
Beth, Houston. “Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.” Galatians 6:1 The NET Bible
Restoration is one of the most powerful, intentional works of the Cross of Christ. Let’s never refuse anyone his or her right to be restored. Here’s to a little gentleness in a harsh world. Everyone could use some.
Stay in the Word, Siestas! You are so loved here!
Cynda
Newnan, GA
“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.”
Psalm 90:14 (NIV)
Chonda, Fayetteville, AR, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12 NIV
Karen from Martinsville, NJ
“Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.”
~Proverbs 29:25 (NIV)
Myra, Bakersfield, California
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” NIV Psalm 32:8
Lisa, Cumming, GA – “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” Philippians 2:14 NIV
Linda & Girls, Pauls Valley, OK – “Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” Psalm Psalms 17:8 NIV
Cindy, Fort Worth, TX
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV
Rhonda, Searcy,AR
Rejoice always, pray continually, (1 Thessalonians 5:16, 17 NIV)
Sylvia Georgetown TX
Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Gal 5:25
Janet, Milton, MA
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV) “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
Jae, Lenoir
Jude 21,22NIV
Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt;
Darien, Lenoir
Jude 21,22NIV
Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt…
Darcy, Lenoir
Jude 21,22NIV
Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
Be merciful to those who doubt…
Jamie, Holly Springs, NC
“Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.” Galatians 6:1 The NET Bible
Amy
Walnut Cove, NC
For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
Isaiah 43:19 NLT
Nicole, Odessa, FL: “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 NIV
<3 <3 <3
Vicky, Enders
The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
John 10:10 NLT
Rebecca in Durham: “Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
Proverbs 31:25-6, ESV
Michelle~ Concord, NC
“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
Romans 16:20, ESV
Becky from Marietta, GA
“When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours, do not be afraid of them because the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, will be with you.”
Deuteronomy 20:1 NIV
Sharon, Hamburg NY
“A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people. Gently instruct those who oppose the truth.” 2 Timothy 2:24-25 (NLV)
Cindy, Clarksville: “Brothers and sisters, if a person is discovered in some sin, you who are spiritual restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness. Pay close attention to yourselves, so that you are not tempted too.” Galatians 6:1 The NET Bible I had a different verse but this one spoke to me today so I’m sharing:)
Leslie R, Norwood Young America, MN
Isaiah 41:10 NIV
“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am you God.
I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
in Muscle Shoals, AL
“Teach me your way, O Lord,and I will walk in your truth;give me an undivided heart,that I may fear your name. I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.” Psalm 86:11-12
Laila, Chicago
laila, chicago
Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
Hosea 14:9 ESV
diane, Baraboo, Wisconsin
Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” Isaiah 30:21 NIV
Holly Belt, Spring Hill,TN
Romans 8:6
The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace, ..
Rhonda, Houston –
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
Melanie Miller, Nampa, Idaho
Eph 1:17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.
Lissa B
Greenville, SC
“Do not be afraid, for I am with you
Do not be discouraged, for I am your God
I will strengthen you and help you
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.”
Kristi, Puyallup, WA: “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.” Ephesians 1:15-16 (NIV)
Paula
Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you do I Peter 5:6-7
NKJV
II Corinthians 4:18
NIV
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Dana, Pace, FL
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt. James 5:1-6 NIV
Kim ~ Niceville, FL
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.
Psalm 62:5 (NIV)
Mari ~ Raleigh, NC
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own;
1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV)
Janet, Norman, OK
Revelation 12:11
They overcame him
by the blood of the Lamb
and the word of their testimony.
They did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death.
Amy aka Whimzie, Florida…but I’m on vacation which is why I’m late! Sorry!
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:25-26
Beth, I think that is a great verse for me to personally know. Thank you, I am using as well:
“Brothers & Sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” Galations 6:1, NIV
Michelle, KS
Anna, Little Elm, TX
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’
Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)
Lahna, Burkburnett: There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; and one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches. Proverbs 13:7 NKJV
Meggie, Winnipeg, Canada
“Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.” Ephesians 3:20 NLT
Maria, Whitmire, SC
Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed. Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.
Hebrews 12:12-15 (NIV)
Lori Lehrmann ~ Port Arthur, TX
The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. ~Lamentations 3:25 (NLT)
Pam – NC
Lamentations 3:22-23 NKJV
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.” Psalm 62:5 NLT
Nikki, Wichita
Alison P.
McComb, MS
This is my command: Love each other.
John 15:17 (NIV)
Amy, Hood River, Oregon
“The LORD will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the LORD your God is giving you.”
Deut 28:8, NKJV